The return leg of this two day tour in celebration of the 1904 unofficial breaking of the 100m.p.h. barrier by City of Truro promised so much after her masterful display over the Westcountry banks on Day 1 but alas it was not to be as Clun Castle tackles the 1 in 42 of Hemerdon Bank.
Arriving more than 2 hours early at this iconic location was needed just to park the car and having set up cameras on the bridge in charge of my second "cameraman" I set off down the hill to get a passing shot where I found all available places against the lineside fence occupied by many arriving even earlier! However, having so much time in hand, a pair of secateurs and gardening gloves I set to work cutting a new position through thick brambles, ivy and elder. Three quarters of a hour later I had created a brand new location where I was able to secure the tripod to a fence post which I hope will be used for many more shots in the future.
7029 appears on time but with little warning under a volcano of black clag and copious steam from the safety valves. Somehow, the speed was not as expected and even though she passes in spectacular fashion with crew happily waving, speed continues to drop rapidly and things don't look good. As she comes into view of the second camera a stall looks inevitable and with unbelievable acoustics she grinds to a halt. Having radioed the support diesel a crew member jumps down and disappears between the stock presumably checking brake couplings and it seemed to me that this was a typical result of dragging brakes.
A quick re-location of the main camera amongst the many onlookers gives a good view of the re-start with the sounds of that amazing exhaust accompanied by voices of children and family members enjoying the show.
Under the full power of the diesel with the brakes now fully off, the train rapidly disappears eastwards 30 minutes down but amazingly reaches Bristol 5 minutes early !